steveskeggy

Was in the reception af the local tuning firm a couple of years ago, and the receptionist quoted a bloke with a Mitsibushi Evo 500 quid for a set of front brake pads. Dont know what these pads were made of, probably myrrh..

When I was about two years old, my dad bought a new Hillman Imp from Bristol Street Motors in Birmingham. It got about two miles down the road, when going round a roundabout it ran out of petrol. The driver behind didnt react in time and ran into the back of us! Dont think it did much damage.

I have had my 2002 LS430 for a while now, so I can only go on what I have experienced, you will get different stories from different folks, but I can only tell you mine. Q1: Are Lexus's really as reliable as legend has it? No, the battery on the LS430 isnt big enough for the job, so if you sit in a car park with the radio on for more than half an hour you will need the AA or a mate to come and jump start you, and if you accidently leave an interior light on overnight the battery will be flat in the morning (usually when it is raining), and you cant get a bigger one because it sits in a box which is only the right size for that battery. Things that are wrong with my car include: The satnav, which only works when it is warm and looses all of the settings when it isnt. The automatic wipers, which dont work at all. And the steering column adjustment, which only goes in and out, and wont work with the memory. The gearbox is a real dimwit at times and cant decide which gear it wants (but I have found that on all of the Lexus models I have driven). If you have a pet dog and regularly take it in the car, the alarm system will drive you insane. Q2: realistically what sort of MPG can I expect, I currently get about 27 mpg. Can I expect much worse? Depends on how heavy your right foot is, I have seen 2MPG on the readout. I do a lot more town driving than anything else and expect to see a tank average of 18MPG, however when I had a lot of out of town trips last year, I saw better than your 27. Q3: are there many decent independent Lexus mechanics around? Or do you even need a Lexus specialist for servicing? Have you got one that services your beemer that you trust? Take the Lexus to him, it still runs on petrol and has four wheels, Its just got two more spark plugs to change when its serviced. If something breaks that the mechanic cant fix then take it to a dealer, and make an appointment with your bank manager to take out a second mortgage. Even with all the problems I would not swap it (except for an XFR, or an Aston Rapide), because realistically its the best car you can get for the price range, and when you press the loud pedal, it all makes sense. Dont get one with Dunlop tyres, or change them before the roads get slightly damp, and dont get a blue one, any other colour, not blue.. I just got blue with Dunlop tyres- why not? what wrong with it? Yes! you right about color but if to do polish wax and detailing-it should keep dust away. and what exact tyres you recommend for that car? I dont like Dunlop's already as they not hold even dry road Michelin.

Just changed mine from Dunlops, which were rubbish, to Michelin Primacy. Cant recommend them enough. Got mine an offer from BA Bush tyres, £530 for four fitted, so it pays to look around.

This may be of some help: http://mkiv.supras.org.nz/articles/engine_2_14.htm

Dark Blue is the worst colour for keeping clean (Not Black or White as some people think), knew that before I bought it, but needed a car fast so didnt have time to shop around, Its a nice colour when it is clean but that doesnt last long. Trouble is it shows the slightest of marks, water marks especially, but the slightest scratch that you would get away with on any other colour, sticks out. As for Dunflops, well I have just had a set of Michelins put on mine, and it has transformed it into the car it should have been. Be prepared for a scare when it snows, I have driven many vehicles ranging from Fiat 126`s to articulated lorries, and this was the first one ever to frighten me when it snowed. Its not the lack of grip that did me it was the unpredictability of when it would let go My mate who runs a taxi firm got a brand new Ford Galaxy, but refused to take it until the Dunlops were taken off and swapped for Michelin. I have had my 2002 LS430 for a while now, so I can only go on what I have experienced, you will get different stories from different folks, but I can only tell you mine. Q1: Are Lexus's really as reliable as legend has it? No, the battery on the LS430 isnt big enough for the job, so if you sit in a car park with the radio on for more than half an hour you will need the AA or a mate to come and jump start you, and if you accidently leave an interior light on overnight the battery will be flat in the morning (usually when it is raining), and you cant get a bigger one because it sits in a box which is only the right size for that battery. Things that are wrong with my car include: The satnav, which only works when it is warm and looses all of the settings when it isnt. The automatic wipers, which dont work at all. And the steering column adjustment, which only goes in and out, and wont work with the memory. The gearbox is a real dimwit at times and cant decide which gear it wants (but I have found that on all of the Lexus models I have driven). If you have a pet dog and regularly take it in the car, the alarm system will drive you insane. Q2: realistically what sort of MPG can I expect, I currently get about 27 mpg. Can I expect much worse? Depends on how heavy your right foot is, I have seen 2MPG on the readout. I do a lot more town driving than anything else and expect to see a tank average of 18MPG, however when I had a lot of out of town trips last year, I saw better than your 27. Q3: are there many decent independent Lexus mechanics around? Or do you even need a Lexus specialist for servicing? Have you got one that services your beemer that you trust? Take the Lexus to him, it still runs on petrol and has four wheels, Its just got two more spark plugs to change when its serviced. If something breaks that the mechanic cant fix then take it to a dealer, and make an appointment with your bank manager to take out a second mortgage. Even with all the problems I would not swap it (except for an XFR, or an Aston Rapide), because realistically its the best car you can get for the price range, and when you press the loud pedal, it all makes sense. Dont get one with Dunlop tyres, or change them before the roads get slightly damp, and dont get a blue one, any other colour, not blue.. I just got blue with Dunlop tyres- why not? what wrong with it?

I have had my 2002 LS430 for a while now, so I can only go on what I have experienced, you will get different stories from different folks, but I can only tell you mine. Q1: Are Lexus's really as reliable as legend has it? No, the battery on the LS430 isnt big enough for the job, so if you sit in a car park with the radio on for more than half an hour you will need the AA or a mate to come and jump start you, and if you accidently leave an interior light on overnight the battery will be flat in the morning (usually when it is raining), and you cant get a bigger one because it sits in a box which is only the right size for that battery. Things that are wrong with my car include: The satnav, which only works when it is warm and looses all of the settings when it isnt. The automatic wipers, which dont work at all. And the steering column adjustment, which only goes in and out, and wont work with the memory. The gearbox is a real dimwit at times and cant decide which gear it wants (but I have found that on all of the Lexus models I have driven). If you have a pet dog and regularly take it in the car, the alarm system will drive you insane. Q2: realistically what sort of MPG can I expect, I currently get about 27 mpg. Can I expect much worse? Depends on how heavy your right foot is, I have seen 2MPG on the readout. I do a lot more town driving than anything else and expect to see a tank average of 18MPG, however when I had a lot of out of town trips last year, I saw better than your 27. Q3: are there many decent independent Lexus mechanics around? Or do you even need a Lexus specialist for servicing? Have you got one that services your beemer that you trust? Take the Lexus to him, it still runs on petrol and has four wheels, Its just got two more spark plugs to change when its serviced. If something breaks that the mechanic cant fix then take it to a dealer, and make an appointment with your bank manager to take out a second mortgage. Even with all the problems I would not swap it (except for an XFR, or an Aston Rapide), because realistically its the best car you can get for the price range, and when you press the loud pedal, it all makes sense. Dont get one with Dunlop tyres, or change them before the roads get slightly damp, and dont get a blue one, any other colour, not blue..

Hi. Get a voltmeter, look for a yellow/green wire going into the back of the radio, turn the radio on. Stick one end of the volt meter into the plug where the yellow/green wire goes in and the other to ground. If the radio mutes then thats the wire you need (it was yellow/green on my 98 400, and on my 02 430), if not then try a few others, just be careful not to bridge two or more together and you should be ok. Dont use a test screwdriver. Its not easy to make the contact first time because there is little room to get a probe into the plug, if it is too tight just strip a little insulation off the lead, you can use tape or a scotch lock after.

Character? Gary Glitter has got character, but I would rather have Kimi Raikkonen looking after kids (At least they would get an ice cream). Mind you it doesnt surprise me from Autocar, the only time I ever read that rag was on the way to picking up the Ls430. I tore it up when I read that they wanted all of their readers to do 40 mph in the 60 limits. I thought of bringing it home and using it as bog roll, but I wouldnt wipe my Ar$e with it.

The C6 is a really nice car, I looked around it at the last motor show and was really impressed with the inside, in fact I prefered sitting in it to sitting in the LS600, but that may have been down to the Lexus man being a ******. However something lets the C6 down. The C6 is only available new with a diesel engine Now having an oil burner as an option, is ok, we know that a proper luxury vehicle is not going to be taken seriously unless it has a big V8 under the bonnet. I know that the range used to include a petrol V6, but it only produced 215 BHP, and in a 2 ton car this gave a 0-60 time of 9.4 seconds. The new V6 Diesel puts out 240 BHP which translates to 8.9 seconds to 60, this is not enough when you consider that the LS430 does the same in 6.5. Top speed of the C6 is 143. The citroen is nice, but if you have a luxury car, then you cant be seen filling up at the diesel pump in the fuel station.

Anybody read this? http://new.uk.music.yahoo.com/blogs/touchingthevoid/28943/is-this-the-end-of-your-radio/ Those of us with built in Sat Navs are basically stuffed, because there is no way we can fit a digital radio without loosing Sat Nav and Climate control. You could use a hand held job running through a sender, but how crap is that on a luxury car? I wonder how many MP`s who own a Lexus will wake up and block this when they realise they will not be able to listen to Ken Bruce in the morning. They could do what they wanted with AM, but FM needs keeping.

The Principle of the F1-Z is similar to that of a Jet engine: If you compress the air into the engine you get more power output from the same amount of fuel. F1-Z sits inside of the air intake pipe to the engine and spins from the velocity of the incoming air. The faster the air, the faster the spin, the more compression is achieved, the better the result in terms of power output and fuel economy Have these people just broken the laws of physics? If they have got energy out of this without putting energy in to it, then they have invented the perpetual motion machine!! These people are geniuses! Either that or just plain con men who are just trying to foist this load of Jacksons onto gullible idiots.

The photos here may give you what you need: http://www.lexls.com/tutorials/audio/powerantenna.html Not as good as a diagram, but photos 4,7,9 & 10 show you both sides of the plug.

Alternator, or a main fuse. Check the fuses first, under the bonnet, they dont look like normal fuses, but like strips of metal. You will soon see if one is gone. Or the alternator is shot, the car should run on its own without a battery or with a flat battery on the juice coming from the alternator. So if it doesnt, there is no power getting from the alternator to the cars systems.

BTW my steering wheel does the same. Seems to me that the early 430`s could be a bit iffy on the electrics, dont know if they sorted it out for later ones.

Thats for the fanbelt, worth it because if that goes while you are driving it will hurt. Cheapest water pump on E-Bay is £107

Mine does the same on Dungflops. It has also been hilarious/terrifying in the snow, with the rear having a mind of its own, often falling out with the front end, and deciding to go in a completely different direction. Taxi proprietor friend of mine made the local Ford dealer change the Dungflops for Michelins before he would take his brand new Galaxy from the forecourt. Needless to say the car will NOT be on Dungflops next winter.

That could also be a sign of the fanbelt is getting a bit loose, mine sounded like a tensioner bearing going till I changed the belt (which looked ok but was a good few inches longer than the new one, so dont go by looks). So be a good idea just to swap the belt, just for the sake of it. Its an easy enough job, probably take 20 - 30 minutes, just make a diagram of the way the belt goes before you take it off as its a head scratcher to figure it out after! Then you can waggle the water pump to see if there is any play and replace it before it gives up if there is. Try the idler and tensioner bearings as well, just to put your mind at rest. BTW got mine from lexuspartsdirect.co.uk for £43 inc P&P.

Can you get a run in a similar car with history? If so then you have got some sort of measure as to how this one should be. If its a worse ride, or the engine sounds rough then walk away. If its the same or better, then go for it. Have a look on auto trader see how it matches up to similar cars on there on the asking price. Have a look around the engine bay, a lot of times the mechanic will put a sticker in there stating the milage when the cambelt was changed. You could always get in touch with the previous owner and ask him about the car..

Hi Did you have anything stuck on the rear window with superglue? for example the brake light? The fitter from Boston windscreens told me that they love the stuff, because when peoples rear view mirror drops off, they stick it back on with superglue and ping, the glass shatters after a few months. Apparently it isnt a chemical reaction, its simply because the glass expands at a different rate to the metal or plastic of the mirror, and superglue sticks rigid and eventually the weakest part gives, which is the glass. A proper mirror pad or proper mirror glue allows for the different rates. Could be that they used superglue when they did the repair.

Yep, my 98 had a lexus phone kit installed. The handset went in the armrest and the reciever was in the boot. It was all operated by buttons on a panel on the steering wheel which also held the microphone, and was a Lexus optional extra. it would have worked through the stereo speakers. I say would have, because the technology was so outdated that it would not function, due to it needing a phone card the size of a credit card. So when they build cars the wiring looms are all the same whether you have the extras installed or not. The other end of that cable will be in the center console under the armrest, near the back vents under the box.

The 430 has a horizontal tank. But you still cant fold the seats down because of the rear air con and the fridge.

80k these days is not high milage. In the old days, 80k would have been around the time when an engine may have needed re-boring, at least the main and big end bearings would have needed replacing. But with improvements in materials and tollerances, engines last three, four even five times longer than they used to. Of course this all depends on how the engine has been treated, if it has been hammered from day one, or maybe driven too slowly, then this can shorten the life of the engine and drivetrain. Its not that unusual these days to see a car with 1/4 to 1/2 a million miles on the clock, or even more. It all comes down to how the car has been treated, and that is why service history is important, especially cambelt replacement. Its not the engine you need to worry about these days, its the electrics, there are so many gadgets and computers in these things that its not unusual for at least one of them to be a bit "Iffy" so press all the buttons, twist all the knobs slide all the switches and push all the levers, or at least all you can find, you will still be finding switches a month after you have bought it. If it looks good, sounds good, drives good and has plenty of paperwork, then it should be a goodun.

According to this: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/...exus-crash.html There is a problem with the LS350 ???? What I want to know is, instead of fishing out his phone, dialing 911 and having a conversation about how his car was charging down the street towards a juction, why did he not just knock the car out of gear or switch of the ignition? And according to this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lexus_ES The car was most likely an ES350, which had had a recall to have thinner mats fitted, obviously the rental company thought it wasnt worth the bother.

Only ever read one copy of Autocar, funnily enough on the way to pick up the 430. Got to the bit where they wanted everybody to drive at 40MPH in the 60 limit, and immediately wanted to go and set fire to it. Needless to say will never buy such an absurd excuse for a magazine again. The only decent writer they had was James May, and they fired him.